GENDER AND ADOLESCENT ALCOHOL USE DISORDERS ON BOLD (BLOOD OXYGEN LEVEL DEPENDENT) RESPONSE TO SPATIAL WORKING MEMORY

• Published in: Alcohol and alcoholism (Oxford) Vol. 40; no. 3; pp. 194 - 200
• Main Authors: CALDWELL, LISA C., SCHWEINSBURG, ALECIA D., NAGEL, BONNIE J., BARLETT, VALERIE C., BROWN, SANDRA A., TAPERT, SUSAN F.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford Oxford University Press 01.05.2005; Oxford Publishing Limited (England)
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adolescents; Alcohol related disorders; Alcohol-Related Disorders - blood; Alcohol-Related Disorders - physiopathology; Alcohol-Related Disorders - psychology; Alcoholism and acute alcohol poisoning; Biological and medical sciences; Brain activity; Female; Functional magnetic resonance imaging; Gender differences; Humans; Magnetic Resonance Imaging - methods; Male; Medical sciences; Memory - physiology; Oxygen - blood; Oxygen Consumption - physiology; Risk factors; Sex Characteristics; Spatial Behavior - physiology; Spatial task performance; Toxicology; Vigilance; Working memory; Human; Oxygen; Toxicity; Alcoholism; Adolescent; Sex; Cognition; Working memory; Blood
• ISSN: 0735-0414; 1464-3502
• DOI: 10.1093/alcalc/agh134

Aims: To determine how alcohol use differentially affects brain functioning in male and female adolescents. Methods: Adolescents with alcohol use disorders (AUDs; 7 female, 11 male) and control adolescents without AUDs (9 female, 12 male), aged 14–17 years, performed spatial working memory and vigilance tasks during functional magnetic resonance imaging. Results: Gender, AUD and their interaction were significantly associated with brain activation patterns to the tasks. There were interactions in the superior frontal, superior temporal, cingulate and fusiform regions, in which female and male adolescents with AUDs showed a different brain response from each other and control subjects. Overall, female adolescents with AUDs showed a greater departure from normal activation patterns than male adolescents with AUD. Conclusions: Adolescent alcohol involvement may affect male and female brains differently, and adolescent females may be somewhat more vulnerable to adverse alcohol effects. With continued drinking, these adolescents may be at an increased risk for behavioural deficits.